"Roots In Kashmir" is an initiative launched by us, the Kashmiri Pandit Youth, to reclaim our Roots that identify us. Even though we have been hounded out of our homes and hearths in the Kashmir valley, our "Roots" are very much anchored in the Vitasta Valley. This is an initiative to protest and raise the general awareness of public to a level where our "fight for our roots" is felt, heard and acted upon.
www.rootsinkashmir.org

Monday, December 22, 2008

Governance and rebellion

Nepal's maoist-rebel-turned-PM says that heading a rebellion was easier than governing the country.

The man who led a decade long civil unrest hiding in the forests and terrorising opponents has accepted this humble fact. With guns on your side and no accountability and of course the halo of a hero surrounding you it is so much easier to quell all and any kind of opposition. But governing, even a country the size of Nepal is a mean task. The day to day squabbles of what is now succinctly described as bijli-sadak-paani may seem as boring and unexciting and actually bourgoise to some, but nothing but love for your country can make one do this task efficiently.

Perhaps, our separatist friends can take a clue from his troubles. For more than 60 years now, India has ploughed on to give some semblance of administration and governance to the troubled region, getting a train to its icy heights is just the latest feather in the cap. If you factor in the blatant hate and disregard for any form of Indian authority in Kashmir, then however weak a governance India has provided to an unthanking public, the fact remains that it still has.

One may argue that some semblance of governance even the British gave to India, and that is true! In fact, many of our present day administrative systems come from the Britishers, but they looted our resources in return while India has done no such thing to Kashmir, if anything India has painstakingly assured that Kashmir's riches remain within the region itself, even incurring the anger of the rest of the country.